After nerve-wracking silence, NASA finally hears 'heartbeat' of Voyager 2

Amidst fears that the Voyager 2 is lost forever, NASA, after days of nerve-wracking silence, has finally heard a "heartbeat signal" from the almost five-decades-old space probe.

Just two weeks back, flight controllers accidentally sent a wrong command that tiltedthe spacecraft's antenna away from the Earth and severed contact. This situation, as per the news agency AFP, was not expected to be resolved until the spacecraft conducted an automated re-orientation manoeuvre on October 15.

Everything can change in a "heartbeat"

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As the space agency actively searched for any stray signals from Voyager 2, NASA's Deep Space Network, which is an international array of giant radio antennas, picked up a "heartbeat signal," that signals that the 46-year-old spacecraft is operating and is well, project manager Suzanne Dodd told AFP.

The last-ditch effort to establish contact "was successful in that we see the 'heartbeat' signal from the spacecraft," said Dodd, adding "So we know the spacecraft is alive and operating. This buoyed our spirits."

She said that the team is "now generating a new command to attempt to point the spacecraft antenna towards Earth."

However, as per her,there is only a "low probability" it will work, but given that the automated re-orientation manoeuvre is months away, the NASA team will continue its attempts to rectify the situation.

Voyager 2 and human history

The probe was launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and serve as a beacon of humanity to life "out there". Its current position, as per AFP, is "well beyond our solar system" at more than 12.3 billion miles or 19.9 kilometres from Earth.

Before leaving our solar system, Voyager 2 explored Jupiter and Saturn and also achieved the feat of becoming the only spacecraft (so far) to visit Uranus and Neptune.

The spacecraft and its predecessor, the Voyager 1 — which was humankind's first spacecraft to enter the interstellar medium and is currently some 15 billion miles from Earth — carry "Golden Records", which convey humanity's story to the extraterrestrial world.

Both aircraft carry 12-inch, gold-plated copper disks which have on them encoded images of life on Earth, and music and sounds that can be played using an included stylus.

Alongside this, they carry a map of our solar system, a piece of uranium that serves as a radioactive clock allowing recipients to date the spaceship's launch, and symbolic instructions that convey how to play the record.

(With inputs from agencies)

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